Our Father...Sample

When the Answer Looks Different

What do you do when God provides—but not in the way you expected?

Sometimes the daily bread God gives doesn’t look like what we hoped for. We ask for a breakthrough and receive the strength to endure. We pray for healing and receive peace in the waiting. His provision is always present, but not always packaged how we imagined.

Paul lived this. In 2 Corinthians 12:8–9 (NIV), he describes pleading with God three times to take away a “thorn” in his flesh. But God responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Rather than removing the struggle, God offers sustaining grace, proving that his strength is most visible when we feel weakest. Paul’s circumstances didn’t change, but something in him did. He learned that God’s sustaining grace is as much a gift as the miracle we’re praying for.

Jesus’ invitation to pray for daily bread is a reminder to trust in how God provides, not just that he will. It keeps our hearts open to recognising provision we may have missed: the friend who checks in, the Scripture that speaks at just the right time, the unexpected rest, the sustaining joy.

Sometimes God changes the circumstance. Sometimes he strengthens us to walk through it. Either way, he is faithful.

Prayer:
Father, open my eyes to see how you’re providing for me today. Help me not to miss your grace because I was expecting something else. Teach me to receive whatever you give with trust and gratitude.